The Christmas Eve Shift
by chibiangelfromheaven
Summary: "It was the night before Christmas and all through the city, the street lights were twinkling, all shiny and pretty." "Your poetry needs work, and the street lights aren't twinkling tonight." A cold Christmas Eve involving one lonely blonde Bat and a bit of Christmas magic.


So here we go. It's my first foray into Bat-ficcing (if that's a term). I've been lurking for a while, and do have a few Naruto fics posted on this site. Please don't flame me...

I'm a relative newbie in American comics. I started reading when Steph became Batgirl and Tim added a colour to his title. So, to me Steph was my first Batgirl, Dick makes a great Batman, Damian's a brat but he's learning, Babs is Oracle, Tim needs to get his head on straight and figure out what he wants in life and Jason's flying solo. Hence, this story is anti-Flashpoint for the purpose of preserving a group of characters as I first met them.

I don't own Batman and co. If I had a say, Flashpoint would never have happened, Steph would still be in the comics, Cass would come visit her family, Babs and Dick would be circling each other or in a relationship again, and Damian's character development wouldn't have been set back by Bruce's return.

* * *

"It was the night before Christmas and all through the city," Batgirl murmured, "the street lights were twinkling, all shiny and pretty."

"Your poetry needs work," Nick commented, offering Batgirl a cup of hot chocolate, "and the street lights aren't twinkling tonight. Harley and Ivy did a real number on the power plant when they had their fun yesterday. We won't have power back until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest."

Batgirl smiled and tucked her blonde hair back over her shoulders so it didn't get in her drink.

"You drew the short straw?" he asked, sitting down next to her. His back and legs would hate him for this in the morning, but he was more interested in keeping his favourite Bat company.

"I offered." she replied, "Someone has to make sure Santa doesn't get mugged."

They sipped their chocolates in silence for a little before Jim arrived and said, "Drew the short straw, Batgirl?"

"Did you?" she retorted.

"I'm just about to leave." Jim replied, "Spending it with my daughter. Don't you have family to spend Christmas with, too?"

"We'll do our thing tomorrow." Batgirl replied, smiling.

Downing the last of her hot chocolate and thanking Nick, Batgirl shot out her line and bounded away.

Steph bounced every which way over the darkened rooftops, keeping an eye out for anyone trying to cause trouble on the night before Christmas.

It hadn't been much of a stretch for her to volunteer for the tonight, given how her mother had agreed to do overnight shifts at Mercy General this week.

Steph perched on a gargoyle for a few minutes and watched her breath create little steam trails in the air, sure that few would attempt anything tonight. It was supposedly the coldest winter the city had seen in fifty years, which said plenty. Steph was sure they were right because the Bat-insulation only went so far at keeping out the cold and, contrary to anything Damian said, Steph had very little fat on her.

Bruce and his boys were up in Wayne Manor, sitting around a roaring fire most likely, while Alfred served a full roast turkey with all the trimmings and everything else that a fairytale Christmas dinner entailed. Steph had heard that Jason was willing to play nice tonight and was eating with his family, and Cass was back in town for the week so the whole family was there.

Babs wasn't monitoring Steph tonight, instead spending it with her father. It had taken Steph several hours to convince Babs that she'd be alright for one night. It'd just be muggings and petty crimes tonight, since everyone was locked up. Joker hadn't been entirely happy that Harley broke out without him, even though she and Ivy had planned to shut down the power plant so that Arkham's security would be down and everyone could escape. Selina had been invited to, if Dick's info was right, a "past-and-present-supervillain Christmas party" to be held on Christmas day before an all-out villainy extravaganza on Boxing Day.

Just before midnight, after several hours of dealing with exactly what she'd expected, Steph decided to go home. Nothing was out and about that the cops couldn't deal with, and they got _paid_ to work the Christmas Eve shift.

Slipping in through the bedroom window, Steph shivered as she stripped off her costume and put on her warmest pyjamas. They'd seen better days, but they were better than some of the things she could be wearing to bed. With the heating out because of the lack of electricity, she doubted that anything would be warm enough tonight.

Checking if her laptop had any charge left, Steph was disappointed-but-not-surprised to find that the battery had died. It was to be expected, she supposed, when one bought second-hand.

Wriggling under three layers of quilts, Steph closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

As she drifted off, she heard an Alfred-ish voice say, "What a fine spot of bother you're in, my dear. This won't do. After all, everyone deserves a nice Christmas."

-ooo-

"Is she here?"

"Looks like it. God, she must be freezing."

"Why didn't she show? You sent the invite, right?"

"Of course! I emailed her yesterday."

"Before or after Harley and Ivy tried to blow up the power plant?"

"Before."

"Well, looks like she didn't get the message. If that piece of shit is her laptop, I'm not surprised. Seen a few of those around, and the batteries die faster than Impulse eats if they're not plugged in. Even brand new the battery only lasts an hour or so."

"How would you know how fast Impulse eats?"

"Figure of speak, Dickie-bird."

"See if you can pick her up. I'll pack some clothes for her."

"You just want to see her underwear."

"I've seen it before. She showers in the Cave still, after she gets really messy. Communal shower and all, I've seen it all."

"So what did Timmy give up when they broke up?"

"A fine young woman."

"Huh. Think she'll go out with me?"

"If you _want_ Tim to kill you, ask her."

"Shit. What does she eat? The littlest Replacement weights more than her."

"Not much, apparently. The fridge is empty."

"Isn't her mum a doctor?"

"This is Gotham we're talking about."

"True."

-ooo-

Steph knew she wasn't at home because she woke up warm.

Confused, Steph sat up and found that she was in a big four-post bed with a down comforter and more pillows than she'd ever slept with before.

The pile of gifts certainly wasn't normal, either. And was that a _stocking_ hanging from the wardrobe door?

"Finally awake, Miss Stephanie?"

Steph turned and saw Alfred coming into the room with hot cocoa.

That settled it. Wayne Manor. Exactly how, though, had she gotten there?

"Masters Dick and Jason went in search of you last night when you did not arrive as intended." Alfred explained, handing Steph the cocoa, "It would appear you did not received Master Dick's email invitation to join us for Christmas after your patrol. Miss Cassandra was rather disappointed when you did not arrive."

Steph blushed and sipped the hot drink. She didn't know how to respond to that.

"Your mother has been informed of your whereabouts." Alfred continued, "She says that you are expected home for dinner, and not before."

Before Steph could protest, she heard running in the hallway outside the bedroom.

Alfred calmly sidestepped in time to avoid Dick hurtling into the room and jumping onto Steph's bed.

"About time!" he chortled, "It's almost eight in the morning. You slept right through me and Jason arguing in the car on the way here last night!"

Tim and Cass followed Dick at a more sedate pace, although they were overtaken by a scuttling Damian as he came into the room. All three settled on the bed around Steph.

Jason leaned on the doorframe until Alfred gave him a Look, and then he joined them.

Bruce arrived once everyone else was settled, and handed Steph the first package.

"We all opened ours last night." he explained, "Thank you for the scarf, by the way."

Steph blushed. As close to broke as she perennially was, she'd found creative ways to give gifts. Knitting Bruce a scarf was one of them. And, if she was seeing things right, Dick was wearing the black-and-blue slipper-socks she'd knitted him.

Steph opened the package on her lap, amazed to discover a woollen sweater.

"I saw how cold you looked last week when we met up." Tim admitted sheepishly, "So I got you that. It's made with pure alpaca wool."

Steph had seen that particular sweater in a shop almost a month ago. It was a one-of-a-kind, handmade, only-natural-dyes-used piece that she could never have afforded.

Dick bounced off the bed when he realised Steph was in shock and came back with another present.

"Open mine." he insisted.

It was a new laptop.

"I didn't know you had one when I bought it." he admitted, "I thought that you shared a computer with your mum. Then I saw your laptop last night, and I guess..."

Steph hugged him, and then hugged Tim. If she hugged Tim for longer, no one mentioned it.

Damian got up and grabbed the stocking, which turned out to be full of treats and small trinkets. Although, at least one of those trinkets was quite expensive.

"Miss Kara and Miss Beryl both sent gifts." Alfred offered, "I believe they would best be opened next."

A vibrant green bracelet from Kara which, upon closer inspection, was a mix of jade and kryptonite.

A winter coat from Beryl because Steph had mentioned that hers had holes in the lining.

A box wrapped in blue paper that had no name on it but contained a pretty statuette of a dancing girl. A tag attached to the statuette said it was spelled to protect her from "ill magic" in her house, so she knew it had to be from Klarion.

A steel-ribbed silk fan from Cass, who had smuggled it into America from Hong Kong.

Sweets from Damian, handmade by the best confectioners in the world.

A book from Alfred to replace one she'd read to bits.

New sneakers from Babs, a pointed jab at the fact Steph had been wearing the same sneakers for the past three years despite the things being held together by glue and wishes.

And a little box from Bruce containing a necklace and matching earrings.

Bruce then opened the wardrobe door and revealed a cocktail dress that would match the necklace and earrings.

"You haven't checked your email yet, so you wouldn't know," Dick said, "but Dinah sent you an invite to the Superhero Boxing Day Party we have every year. It's a cocktail party, and we knew you wouldn't have anything to wear."

Steph started to sniffle.

Jason passed her a clean handkerchief and said, "I owe you a present still, ok? You gave me one. Nice gloves, by the way. Thanks."

Steph smiled through her tears and wondered what she had done to deserve such wonderful gifts.

And outside, if anyone had cared to listen, some little bells jingled as someone slipped away.

* * *

Yeah, so...

Reviews are like chocolates: great when you get them but not a requirement for continued existence.


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